Marko Chorbikj

University:

Politecnico Di Milano Italy

Study program:

Master in Automation Engineering , Milano Campus

Academic year:

2011

Name of the student:

Marko Chorbikj

Application procedure and experience::The process of applying to the Univeristy of Politecnico Di Milano is somewhat cumbersome. There are a lot of documents that need to be translated, checked and signed by official organs in Macedonia and then sent to PoliMi. However, I had a huge help from the Educational Advising Centre in Skopje concerning every question I had, experience from previous students, language tests and so on. Also, the website from PoliMI (polimi.it) is quite detailed in explaining the study plans for every Masters course and the documents that are needed in order to enroll as an international student. The staff from Politecnico is also available for any questions coming from potentional future students and they usually reply in a day or two e-mails. Of course, there is also an option to call a representative from Politecnico and have a conversation about any topic.

As far as the selection procedure goes, I am not pretty sure what points they value the most. Officially, what is graded is the average of the BSc. Studies, language test results, previous work experience, extracurricular activities, programs abroad and so on. Personally, I think that the weight is mostly put on previous work experience and experiences gained abroad (ERASMUS programs, internships and so on).

For Automation Engineering, the course that I am following, PoliMi is accepting students from different backgrounds. We are a mixture of students who have BSc. in Mechanical, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Automation. I think what PoliMi’s attitude is that as long as students have had some basic prerequisite courses, they are allowed to follow the Master of Automation course.

Academic experience:From the academic point of view, I like Politecnico Di Milano more and more every day. Especially for Automation, PoliMi is very competent as an institution and have one of the biggest departments of automation in Europe. The studies are hard, especially in the first semester, I feel like there is a leap from Macedonian educational system to the one present in PoliMi. However, these are Master Studies so they need to be harder than BSc. but at the end of the semester after all of the exams are finished, I realized that the effort I put in studying definitely paid off.

Professors and tutors are always available for questions and clarifications after every class and whenever you set up an appointment with them. They are always open for any kind of discussion and reply on e-mails in a couple of hours or a day at the most. For 30 credits per semester, there are around 24-26 hours per week of lectures, exercises and lab work, depending on how the specific subject is organized. There is usually one exam at the end of the semester, which can be only written, only oral or a combination of both and there is a requirement of 60% for acquiring a passing grade.

Personal experience:Studying in PoliMi has its own pros and cons. On one hand studies are hard but the quality of education is very high. Also PoliMi is quite good in European and world ratings and the R&D groups are pretty busy with a number of excellent projects.

Socially speaking, as long as you are an international student following the English track, you don’t really have a much of a contact with Italian students or Italian language. However, there are free courses organized from Politecnico for 6 hours a week where you can practice Italian.

But always there are social groups like ESN that organize trips and events where students interact and socialize. And, of course there are always the ‘apperitivos’ and the night clubs which are quite a fun way to make some friends.

Financial experience:The financial side of studying in Politecnico is one of the few “downsides” if you can say that and the biggest problem are the accommodation expenses, especially for me since my Masters program is in Leonardo Campus which is in Milan itself. Food is not that expensive as long you are preparing your own food, but when it comes to eating outside it is a bit much. I have been granted a scholarship from the Italian government which covers approximately 70-75% of the total expenses per year.

Accommodation:The accommodation issue is not solved from PoliMi, they just offer you help in finding one weather it is a private or a student dorm. Usually, what students do is, they book a room in a student dorm for the first few months and then if they find a more suitable private accommodation – they shift.

As an conclusion …To summarize, studying in Politecnico Di Milano for me was quite a life-changing decision looking from every aspect possible. It put me in a competitive environment with people from all over the world, everyone with different experiences and views on life, different religion and culture. Once I found myself in such a mixture, I think it also helped me realize some things about myself, what I want from my life, what to aim at.

So, to all fore coming students who are either considering the option of studying at PoliMi or at any other university abroad, buckle up because it is not going to be easy, but it definitely won’t be something you will regret in future. The things you will gain are priceless.